Sagard Holdings Announces First Closing of Sagard Credit Partners

- Total commitments of US$260 million -

TORONTO, Jan. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Sagard Holdings ULC ("Sagard Holdings") today announced the successful first closing of Sagard Credit Partners, LP ("SCP" or "the Fund") with commitments totaling approximately US$260 million. SCP provides credit capital directly to public and private middle market companies across Canada and the United States.

This first closing includes capital from Sagard Holdings, SCP's parent and a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada, as well as external commitments led by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan ("HOOPP"), BRK Capital, Walter Financial and a large Canadian corporate pension plan. SCP is targeting total commitments of US$500 million from leading institutional investors and family offices.

SCP invests across North America with the goal of developing long term business relationships with founders and management teams to facilitate enterprise growth, acquisitions, succession planning, special dividends, and other important transactions which it believes can generate attractive returns for SCP's investors.  

"We are excited to announce Sagard Holdings' first external capital raise from leading Canadian investors. SCP will provide flexible, transformative capital to middle market companies with strong fundamentals. Our primary focus will be lending to family and founder-owned companies as well as smaller public companies. We are grateful for the endorsement of our limited partners and look forward to working closely with them in this endeavour," said Adam Vigna, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Sagard Holdings and SCP.

Mr. Vigna joined Sagard in 2016 from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CPPIB"), where he ran the Global Principal Credit Investments Group. Prior to joining CPPIB he held various roles at Goldman Sachs in New York and Toronto.

SCP's first investment closed in May 2017, providing a US$42-million (initial draw) senior secured credit facility to Calgary-based Founder's Advantage Capital Corp.

"The launch of SCP marks the first opportunity for external capital to invest in one of the activities of Sagard Holdings. Our credit business complements and extends Sagard's strategy to date: providing bespoke capital solutions to assist entrepreneurs, executive teams, and owners in critical transition moments for their businesses and helping them to build great companies in Canada and the U.S.," said Paul Desmarais III, Executive Chairman of Sagard Holdings and a Senior Vice-President of Power Corporation. "As we continue to build Sagard Holdings, we are looking to form deep partnerships with the world's most respected capital pools and in turn provide them investment opportunities in the North American middle market where we are leveraging our network and reputation to source, invest in, and build meaningful relationships with company leaders."

"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to provide capital to this very high-quality group as they launch SCP. Having worked with them in the past we believe that the combination of the SCP team and strategy with the Sagard/Power Corporation network is compelling," said Jim Walker, Managing Partner, HOOPP Capital Partners. 

About Sagard Holdings
Founded in 2005 as an investment platform of Power Corporation of Canada, Sagard today operates from New York and Toronto with a team of 21 professionals. Sagard specializes in conducting deep, proprietary analysis and working constructively alongside management teams of small and mid-sized public and private companies in North America. With a flexible mandate, Sagard can invest anywhere in the capital structure, tailoring investments to the needs of companies. Since inception, Sagard has proven itself to be a stable and supportive partner to over 30 corporations.

About Sagard Credit Partners
Sagard Credit Partners ("SCP") provides direct credit financing to public and private middle market companies across Canada and the U.S. SCP works with companies to craft solutions tailored to their unique financing needs, including term loans, notes, debenture financing, and other bespoke solutions and can provide certainty on terms, structure and execution. SCP has a long-term outlook and seeks to build lasting relationships with its investors as well as the companies in which it deploys capital.

SOURCE Sagard Credit Partners